The Botany of Desire

Apples, Tulips, Cannabis, Potatoes - The Botany of Desire. Photo courtesy of pbs.org

I'm a big fan of Michael Pollan and if you're reading this blog you probably don't need an introduction. I've read his wonderful book The Omnivore's Dilemma, but haven't got around to The Botany of Desire. Imagine my joy to find that PBS in California has made a documentary version of the book! It's feature length (about 2 hours) and really fascinating. I highly recommend watching it.

The Botany of Desire - PBS

The film is split into four parts, exploring how food fulfills human desires:

Apple - Sweetness
Tulip - Beauty
Cannabis - Intoxication
Potato - Control

I learned so much:

- About the real man behind the myth of Johnny Appleseed
- That apples came from Kazakhstan
- That apple seeds produce bitter apples and almost a random selection of genes and that the only way to guarantee sweet ones is to graft
- That tulips are from Afghanistan
- That some tulips were worth the equivalent of millions of dollars in Holland in the 17th c. (I hope I got the century right...)
- That cannabis makes those crazy buds only if there are no male plants - sexual frustration
- That marijuana only got stronger by crossing two varieties to make it easier to grow inside - a response to the crack down on outdoor growing in the States in the 1990s.

etc....

Watch it!